Experiences Abroad: Scotland
Oct. 2, 2008

Sarah Douglas		Carolyn Treloar

“My international experience in Scotland was a great opportunity,” said Sarah Douglas, dietetics major from Texarkana. “I was able to travel throughout Scotland, England and Ireland. I experienced new foods, different cultures and gained experienced in my career path.”

Dietetics students Sarah Douglas and Carolyn Treloar, who is also from Texarkana, completed research internships at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, Scotland. Both students worked on research projects that included the use of mobile phone technology to analyze diets of people on the go and a school feeding project in impoverished countries.

The mobile phone project involved sorting more than 2,500 foods into a database, divided into categories depending on their composition and food group.

“We organized the foods into drop-down menus to enable each user to select foods in only a few clicks on their mobile phone,' Douglas said. “The information will be used by the software company to develop database software.'

Douglas and Carolyn Treloar also said they analyzed data for an article to be published in the Journal of the British Dietetic Association. The research was based on a school feeding program in Malawi and Haiti. The project, called “Mary's Meals,” is an international school feeding project in communities, where hunger and poverty are highly prevalent. Originally started by the Roman Catholic Church, the program is now part of the Scottish International Relief Service.

“Both research projects were very different but helped us put our knowledge of foods and dietetics to work,” Treloar said. “We were also able to see the differences in the types of common foods in Scotland and how they differed from foods in the U.S.”

“I never considered living abroad before this experience, but now I would welcome the opportunity,” Treloar said. “I have a new perception of the world, and I would highly recommend this program to other students.”

Global Studies Program
Dr. Raymond W. Barclay, Director
425 Hotz Hall, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701
479-575-6727 • rbarclay@uark.edu